Mentality

February 17, 2016 / erin / 3 Comments

There are a lot of pros and cons to living small… and that probably goes without saying.

I’m finding that when some people hear about tiny living, or that I am living tiny currently, they oftentimes laugh, scoffs and give me all of the reasons why I will hate it. Some will just let me know how they could never do it themselves but have the “more power to you” attitude, some are SO excited and want to hear everything (I love them) and some go as far to let me know that it will most likely ruin my relationship within a year. *I know*

The bottom line is, if you don’t have the mentality set for it, it won’t work for you. If you live tiny and expect to have space to move around, or space from others who share it with you, your expectations may be let down. If you like space to yourself to be able to have time alone, then it might not be the best for you.

But it perplexes me how some think because they cannot do it, you couldn’t either.

Some people prefer peanut butter, some people do not.

Just got to keep smiling and let the negative Nellie’s have their say. 🙂

If you want to go tiny, expect to minimize. But it’s not just minimization, it’s letting go of the emotional attachments we oftentimes put on material things. It is all mentality. So much in life and society these days revolves around consummation of goods; more, newer, shiny, latest model… It’s a game we get caught up in and don’t even realize that we are a part of it. Sometimes we do realize and slow down if we want to, sometimes it’s nice and more power to ya! There is also the sentimental attachments to material things, hand me downs, family heirlooms etc. That is harder to let go of, but usually its the people we attach to the items and the memories they may have then the item itself… and those attachments never leave because they always stay with us. Once you can accept that (if you want to) its easier to let go and downsize.

Humans are pretty basic with pretty basic needs, but we make it so complicated by letting so many other factors dictate and run our lives. We mistake wants for needs, and sometimes needs for wants. The mentality of living small (for me so far) is about letting all of that go, and realize what my priorities actually are. Remember being young and playing outside without all of the latest technology at your fingertips? It was so fun, so many dreams and inventions came up while playing out whatever the imagination had come up with.

I’m finding that again. It almost feels like being a kid and starting over from fresh. As I am living small, without all of my material goods at my fingertips, it’s left me to really think about my dreams, ideas, and inventions my imagination always comes up with, but are ignored or pushed aside by the pressures of keeping up with the game.

I am also finding that I really DO like living tiny. Not 64 square feet tiny forever, but for now it works for us. Down the road, I have a better idea of where I would like to be, and 64 square feet gives me the ability to work towards making that happen and making my dreams come true! 🙂

Also, I made some spinach and artichoke dip from scratch for Super Bowl Sunday and it was AMAZING. Recipe here 🙂

Material things.

January 19, 2016 / erin / 2 Comments

We’ve been plugging along these winter days 🙂 Some of us have gotten sick, and SOME of us (me) are hoping that we don’t catch the bug. Here’s hoping! And hoping you and yours don’t get sick either!

Recently, we attended a Tiny Home meet up here locally and had the opportunity to listen to the President of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company talk all about the tininess. 🙂 They also brought along a house on wheels that showed the different stages of building one. It was really cool to get together with a bunch of like minded enthusiasts and see how else others are doing it.

Overall, the meeting really just gave me some more inspiration and energy to keep this momentum going, and let it evolve into whatever it may. Once this “micro home” is done, it’ll be the perfect getaway trailer for camping or guests even, and hopefully we will be able to move one to something just a bit bigger. All the same, I’m fired up to finish this one!

I went to Ikea the other day (for the very first time) with my cousin to just look at different set up options for cabinetry, storage, and shelving to get a better idea how I would like the inside designed for our micro kitchen! Way to many cool ideas — and I had taken pictures of what I liked …. then my phone was ran over by a car… soooo… not anymore 😉 That’s just an excuse to go back and get more Swedish meatballs!

— oh, and the phone I’m using as a back up doesn’t have a fully working camera (only front facing) so we may lack pictures until that gets fixed. And geeze I didn’t realize how much I took pictures until I can’t.

Something I am learning….

To let go of the material things.

I have downsized what I own enormously… but I still have some sentimental items I like to keep. Not too long ago we were moving the trailer over a few feet from where it was located at… We have our things on shelves / cabinets that aren’t nailed down. — I underestimated the amount the trailer would shift during movement and I didn’t brace the shelves .. and everything crashed down. If it was breakable.. it broke. Everything.

I didn’t care about most of it breaking.. its just things. But I did have a few pieces I really wished didn’t. But that’ll just remind you that nothing is permanent.

Nothing lasts. BUT while it did… they were beautiful pieces to have!

Fresh Beginnings :)

December 31, 2015December 31, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

COLD cold COLD here in Colorado! It doesn’t seem to get warm, and everyone is saying that this weather is unusual for this time of year here.

I really don’t mind at all. I Bitch and complain enough about it probably, but I still don’t mind that much. So many memories of cold winters in Illinois come to the forefront on my mind and attached is just fun in the cold with friends and family. Can’t beat that! 🙂

The Midwest didn’t have a whole lot where winter sports were concerned due to all of the flatness, but there was a little hill in town we would always go sledding at. If you didn’t get there right with the fresh snow, you would be dealing with mud/ice because the ENTIRE town would come out to enjoy the same small man made hill. But it was still just as fun!

I’ve never tried downhill skiing before, and I’ve only dabbed with a snowboard in the flat lands once, so …. doesn’t count for much. Probably would try it one day, but, then again…

I’d rather go camping.

So WEIRD to think it’s New Years eve, but it is. 2016 comes in and its a fresh start, fresh page, whatever corny metaphor you would like to slip in here 😉 This year was a up and down one for me.. I lost 2 of my grandparents, turned 25, had my wedding ceremony, moved twice, and so much in between.

I wouldn’t change a thing!

For myself, I just wish for more/continued peace, love, joy, and happiness in my life in the new year, and for you and yours, too.

OH! and patience. 🙂 Always could use more of that.

Snow Days *

December 23, 2015 / erin / 1 Comment

We’ve had a very nice string of snow days and cold weather here, which has been the perfect excuse to work away on the trailer! FINALLY! I am so excited to show the progress we have made, and it totaled 4 days of work! (More like 3 1/2)

First thing we had to do was finish up the drywall and muding process. If I never see drywall again I will be a happy camper!

While we waited for the mud to dry and Ben ran off on errands, I got to work with sanding the floors down once and for all.

There was this patch in the floor that was coming up and could cause some major splinters, so we tore it up and patched it with the original trim we ripped out of the trailer.

Seemed to do the job just fine, and it was seriously the perfect fit! So far, we’ve gotten away with working with a lot of recycled materials and its been able to keep the costs low.

One thing we may have an issue with, and this has just come to mind recently, is that the drywall may have a hard time staying put if the trailer is going to be mobile often. Once we have more structures built into it, such as the kitchen etc, it may not be an issue. I guess time will tell and much like most I do in life, this too is just going to be trial and error . 🙂

Okay, so drywall and floors completed! Next thing I went to work on was priming and painting! Even tho my arms usually want to fall off by the time I am through, I kind of enjoy painting. Its relaxing. And no, this does NOT mean I will help paint your house for you 😉 okay I might.

All of these small details started to come into play, and they needed to be dealt with. SO. If you look back up to the first picture, you can see in the corner is a big silver piece of foam board. — We cut it to sizes, skinny long strips, and used it to insulate the gap where the wall and ceiling meet. That area will be covered by some ceiling trim and may also put up LED lighting there too… Time will tell.

I then went thru and spray painted the area black… The small spot at the top where the yellow foam is showing is kind of an eye sore, so I made it match the black metal for now, until we decide how that will be covered.

Next order of business was staining the floors! YAY! And cleaning up some more areas. Behind the pulley bar for the back door, is a lot of messy over spray, and it’ll be built in (one day) but we took the time to clean it up, and I also spray painted it black to make a cleaner look for now.

All of that took 3 days.

All was fine and dandy, until about 2 days ago I mentioned to Ben while trying to get to world 7 on Super Mario, that it would be nice if this bed had a frame, even if temporarily built on some 2×2’s, but it would be better than mattress on the ground.

Being the doer he is, he ran off to get the lumber needed and we spent the afternoon making the bed frame, sizing the storage that will go underneath, and even made cubby holes to access by lifting the mattress.

Oh, another cool feature is he made it to fit a queen bed, but also made it easily adjustable to fit a double, in case we decided to downsize on mattress size. (Its a tight squeeze with a queen)

Finished (?) product 🙂

I lifted the lace I have to show you how its lifted, it raised the mattress 14 inches off the ground and it makes a WORLD of a difference. The other half is still a cluster of stuff, but its looking better now that I can store under the bed! And it is all VERY organized and neat! 🙂

It is difficult to get used to the new temperatures at our new elevation 😉 but in all seriousness, it makes a world of a difference and we are struggling to find a new happy medium on the radiator!

Our little holiday shrine 🙂

Happy Holidays everyone! Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year!

Peace and Love ❤

Homemade Toothpaste

December 8, 2015 / erin / 1 Comment

I’ve been trying to be less wasteful, more natural, and be more open minded to trying new things, and making my own products at home rather than buying them.

Our friends we stayed with in Iowa for Thanksgiving make a lot of their own products as well, and they have gifted us their homemade soap and I am in LOVE with it. While we were staying with them, I had the opportunity to try out their homemade toothpaste, and I decided I would have a go at making my own.

Now I pulled THIS RECIPE from google and tried it, and I also added Dr. Bronner’s peppermint Magic Soap to the mix. JUST A TINY BIT, like… 1/2 of a teaspoon. The oils I used were peppermint and eucalyptus.

Here is where I went wrong.

And I ALWAYS go wrong.

When I started making it I decided to half the recipe to start, to have a tester bottle. When I half a recipe I forget I am doing so at SOME point in the process of adding ingredients, and I did that this time too.

I halved the portions and then decided to use the same amount of drops of oil as if I didn’t half it. *facepalm*

I noticed when I brushed my teeth to see how it tasted.

SO. I went BACK to the drawing board to finish the full recipe to make up for the STRONG taste.

Its been about 3 days now. I don’t mind it at all. Ben on the other hand….

Well it just doesn’t seem to agree with him, and it just sets his gag reflexes going. He thinks it may be the coconut oil (I used unrefined) but I think it may be the baking soda? It tends to have such a salty strong presence that it can easily overpower the senses.

I may try looking up some other recipes and try them out, and pay attention when I make a small portion this time! 🙂 But it doesn’t seem all that bad to me.

If you have any suggestions or make your own and you like it, let me know your secrets! 🙂

Cold. ish.

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

The weather in Colorado fluctuates on a DAILY basis. I’ve never lived somewhere where the weather is so dramatic. I like it.

So we are so very lucky to be staying on the property of someone we know, and oftentimes in the morning we will go into the house and share breakfast and coffee. One of the homeowners is a dog named Katie. I love her.

Anywho, in the mornings she likes to stand on the table, and wait for us (me) to come out of the trailer and come inside. The other morning Ben sent me this picture of her waiting for me when I was just a little behind him.

Katie is a hairless terrier (I think) and she has SO much personality AND she adores me. Us girls have to stick together 😉 She REALLY makes me want to go rescue a dog, but that will all come in due time. There is an order to the plans for the trailer and a reason for it. BUT I DON’T LIKE WAITING.

That’s what’s wrong with everything. The need for instant gratification. Okay at least I struggle with that if no one else.

— In other news, I was actually able to go to work with Ben the other day. This time not on the trailer but rather thru his actual employer. They needed extra hands and mine were free 🙂 It was a lot of fun, VERY tiring, and very educating.

I’ve worked with Ben a lot, have learned a lot about foam, even worked for a company that also uses spray polyurethane foam, but actually working hands on gave me a much better understanding for it.

I have a picture but not handy SO I will post a picture of my new meditation stool I found at the thrift store the other day! I included a grande coffee from Starbucks for size. Pretty excited about this find!

Sorry I have been MIA as of late, just a lot going on and looking for a minute to grab!

The MoST comforting of FOODS – –

November 9, 2015November 10, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

PIZZA!

One of my favorite meals to make is homemade pizza with Ben. It’s SO easy, cheap, and usually the pizza is WAY better than take out.

Let me back up a few steps first. My standards for pizza were developed and grew to be the way they are as a result of being raised in close proximity to the great Chicago 😉

– – – I am not trying to be snobby about it, because truly I believe that Little Caesars is underrated, but I also do know there is good pizza, and then there is good pizza.

Anywho, I don’t like spending a lot of time on the crust, so honestly I just buy the Jiffy pizza crust mix, yeah the one that cost a bit under $2.00 and you just add water, that one. It’s rather good, I am able to create a “deep dish” or thin crust if I desired, and it is so quick to make.

The fun part about making the pizza is we just grab whatever toppings we want to put on it that time, and have at it. No two pizzas we make are ever the same, and usually the two staples are mozzarella cheese and jalapenos. Everything else is subject to change. 🙂

I baked this ‘za in a pie pan, which enabled me to make it more of a deep dish, rather reminded me of Uno’s Pizza. mmmmm Uno’s…

I will get better with my images with time, I hope. Sorry for the dark images (if they are, they seem to be to me).

Part of the reason I baked in a pie pan is because the pan I WAS going to use is a bit big for our oven… I grabbed the wrong one from storage. Whoops! But it turned out to be great, in fact, I may prefer it to a sheet or circular pan. It makes the perfect size pizza for the two of us. Sometimes we double the recipe and make two crusts and cook it on a cookie sheet, but that’s out of the question as you’ll see below.

Can you find the elephant in the room? 😉

It’s smaller in size but as you can see it has a lot of different options for cooking and a timer which is great. For comparison sake, it would be big enough for one frozen pizza perfectly!

This was also found at a great deal! I think it was less than $15 bucks and in near perfect condition at Goodwill. I found it about two years ago, but that was also something that I was in the market for, for quite a long time as well before I finally found it.

The key is PATIENCE! If you allow yourself time to browse, sometimes having to go back a few times, eventually what you are looking for will filter thru and that persons junk becomes your treasure! I usually go to the thrift stores about once a week and just walk thru casually with my list in the back of my mind.

For instance… yesterday I found an amazing stool / seat for meditating!

I do NOT have patience for walking around a mall, but thrift stores… I can give the time of day.

Okay so back on track … this is pretty standard for our pizza topping options.

Salt and pepper (if needed, but usually always pepper)

TEXAS PETE hot sauce (personal favorite)

And of course classic parmesan and crushed red pepper.

Comfort foods. All of them.

I am also pleasently suprised over how great cooking is in the trailer. Sure its not AS easy as it could be, but it still is not that tedious, cramped, inconvient, (instert complaint here) as you may think it could be. I just CANNOT wait until we get our cupboards and counter design in place and put in!

Okay. Go forth now, and PIZZA!

* SnoW *

November 5, 2015November 5, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

IT SNOWED! Heavens to Betsy its WAY too early for snow, but I LOVE the first snow! LOOVE!

Last night the rain started, and the sounds on the roof were nature’s music. I slept like a baby! I woke up around 5 AM to get some water and I looked out the door, and it was snowing! I couldn’t help it but I woke Ben up with me! Whoops! 😉 But he even got up to take a look – but honestly, I think I squealed so it was my sheer volume that did the trick.

If I didn’t look outside I would’ve had NO idea it was snowing or how cold it was because our new heater is perfect!

Someone gifted us a Lakewood Radiator Oil Heater that runs off of a thermostat as well, its electrical and it maintains such a comfortable temperature I think we may stick with it!

That heater/ fan we were using I don’t think would take the cold like this does at all. It too was run on a thermostat and would shut on and off when it hit its temps, but I almost would feel an electric current/spark when it would turn off / on and I did NOT like it. I am keeping it on hand because it was really good for the fall temps, but with these colder nights coming it wouldn’t have regulated the temp like this radiator.

My two cents on that.

Back to magic —

The first snow always feels so magical to me – but honestly, tell me it’s not magic. Halloween is over and boom, white stuff everywhere – now you have people being nicer to each other for a couple of months and smiling more because they just cannot help but feel the magic too! (Fairies)

Don’t misunderstand me though, I don’t think people are intentionally crabby with everyone but I think fall/winter is a season people take a break from all of that (mostly). I try to stay optimistic about it all anyhow. The world can always use more smiles so I am glad to give!

Someone say fOOD?!

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

I have been trying to be better about cooking at home rather than eating out. Something I feel like a lot of us can relate to, it’s easier to sometimes make excuses and not cook. I am beyond guilty! I am not a bad cook, (I know that makes me sound great at the start of my rant LOL bear with me… ) but I feel like I lack originality when it comes to meal planning and meal making. That and I love a good cheeseburger any day and every day.

Morning tea in my favorite mug, the only one I kept out of the packed boxes for me actually… and that’s saying something because I LOVE mugs 🙂

I am the same ol’ same ol’ type of person — Honestly Ben is a really good cook, and very original, almost to the point I’m worried I may need to have a plan B simply because it looks like a science experiment because it just forms as it goes. I have yet to have had plan B put into action so that’s really good! Some of the dishes were VERY good but we never wrote down what was put in and don’t remember what was done. Lost in food heaven.

Anywhoo, (Every time I hear/say/type that word it makes me think of that lady cop from the movie/show Fargo… or basically anyone from Minnesota. Makes me smile and miss living there) –

From our wedding I kept one of the lace tablecloths and donated the rest (I originally bought them all second-hand). I found it to be the perfect privacy curtain when I have the back patio open!

♥

Another thing, or two, eating out rather than cooking at home does for you is thin out your wallet and more often than not the food you’re making at home is healthier that what’s ‘out there’. We all know this, BUT I still struggle with following thru with the knowledge. With all that being said, I obviously want to cook more at home and make it a regular practice again.

… I am going to digress for a moment … Something also I want to talk about. So I have this love/hate relationship with CHANGE. It is constant and we cannot avoid it. With moving around often change is constant, and I can feel uncomfortable and not really “at home” yet, and I forget my healthy routines and I tend to spend more, or be wasteful more, eat out more, not exercise etc. It’s happens like a rollercoaster / cycle and once I become more settled in the area and familiar with everything my energy settles down and I am able to re-center and remember my good routines.

So this is also something I saw coming, but living in a box (as I like to call it) throws a special wrench into the situation.

I am constantly saving recipes on Pinterest or Facebook on my phone and I do have a few cookbooks but I am rarely cooking them, so I want to be more conscious about that and try my hand at making them. BUT I am kind of limited to what I can do for my meals because I don’t have an oven. I do have a stove top burner, toaster/convection oven, griddle and my…. CROCK POT! Scowering thru Pinterest I realized I (of course) have a TON of crock pot recipes pinned and have yet to make one of them (typical).

Well not anymore! I am realizing my fortune in that thing and am about to start utilizing it a hell of a lot more, and see what else I can make in this small space with my limited resources, and see if it really makes much of a difference at all. Stay tuned! I will be posting what I make and letting you know where I got the recipe from, how they turn out and flops that just don’t cut it.

SPEAKING of flop… I tried to make a “breakfast quesadilla” — It started out promising, but it. was. not. Ah well, it was a good effort on my part simply because I have a really bad habit of not eating breakfast. I did get half of it down tho 😉

My dad made this handy caddy out of old barn wood, and it is awesome! It perfectly holds together what my kitchen counter / table otherwise would 🙂

**Oh I am also making a lot of updates to the site, tweaking and seeing what I like, so things may be changing a lot over the next few days. If you have an opinion and liked one layout and I changed it, feel free to drop a comment and let me know!

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2015October 31, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

I cannot feel my body.

Strike that. I CAN in fact feel my body. Every single muscle. They’re all yelling at me for not getting off my butt and keeping active on a regular! Three days ago I woke up and decided it’s been awhile since I’ve jogged, so I went. I totaled 2 miles, and this elevation was a big adjustment! Then two days ago I went to work with Ben 🙂

Another free day came up on Thursday, so we decided to use this beautiful weather and put it to use!

Originally, when we foamed the trailer, we only put about 3/4 inch of foam on the roof, and it seemed to do the trick… that is until the cold front started creeping in. It really needed more, so we added another 2 inches or so, coated with silicone and threw some gray granules on top. Again, foam is Ben’s profession, it’s what he wakes up to go do every day, so I was his “helper”. I basically tailed the hose and carried it behind (it’s a rather large hose… you’ll see below), cleaned up the job-site, taped up wind blockers and back spray, blew off the roof etc etc. Like an assistant.

The rather large snake on the ground is the foam hose and on the end of it obviously is the spray gun. It’s nice to have someone tail the hose and keep it out of the way, especially on a small surface. *Below* Boots are wrapped and taped so I don’t have to buy new ones 😉 and my dusk mask is on to breathe the clean air while sanding the walls inside down.

We really did end up getting a lot done on Thursday. It was a full working day, from about 10 AM or so, until 6:30 PM. We finished the roof which was the most important on the list. We will need to foam the bottom just a little more but that can be saved for another day.

Almost only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades, but we ALMOST finished the drywall. I am getting MUCH better at drywalling 🙂 We still had the front of the trailer, the ‘V’, to mud and tape still, and we had to frame the door and put in the bull nose and trim it up a bit. We were SO close… but we ran out of drywall mud. I HATE having to stop a project due to lack of supplies! But alas, such is life and all things are never ideal. Good news is I have the mud now, and after I finish the drywall up, I already have the painting supplies ready to go next!

At FIRST, I was very nervous on the roof. I didn’t go up last time but this time I wanted to get even more involved. I wouldn’t say have I have a fear of heights, cause I don’t, but I DO have a healthy respect for high surfaces that doesn’t have a railing on it.

The paper you see taped around the perimeter of the trailer in the first of these above three pictures is to help block the foam from spraying over the side etc. Last time I taped the paper around the top perimeter with both feet on the ground. (I’m kinda tall). THIS time I did it with both knees on the roof! Yipee! And THEN — by the end right before we coated the roof with the silicone, I went back up top and I was able to blow it off and walk around with confidence.. The extra foam did help as it made it more of a sturdy surface too 🙂 In between I had to also work around and trim the sides with a knife after the foam set in. No wonder my back hurt.

But seriously. . . I am really REALLY enjoying this process. It’s also nice not being on a timeline and worrying about a budget and a deadline. This way, we are able to work as we can afford it, and still live comfortably in it in the meantime. The work itself is very enjoyable, like I said, I am getting better at drywall! This third time I do it I may be just perfect. HA! It’s not easy, and this really does have a learning curve, but we are winging it and so far its working! I can’t wait to start our next project and we’re not even close to finishing this one!

It’s been a little over a month and I would recommend it over and over again if someone had asked my two cents. After moving twice (one across country) in less than 4/5 months, it’s taking a bit of time to bounce back up on our feet– as you can imagine– but bouncing we are and it’s great! 🙂

On that note, I’m going to get ready to go out and enjoy my Halloween! I love Halloween and all of the scares 🙂

dynomadic life

Dynamic Design. Nomadic Nature.

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